Ethics: Deception in Psychotherapy
Psychotherapists place high value on Fidelity, or acting in ways that honor client trust. But therapists and clients also purposefully deceive each other -- more than you might expect. This course examines deception in therapy, and uses case examples to demonstrate the complexity of ethical decision-making around deceptive behavior. Scroll down for full course description and complete details.
Instructor: Benjamin E. Caldwell, PsyD. 2 hours CE
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Course Information
While all therapists are expected to act in ways that honor and reinforce client trust, there are some situations that require us to carefully weigh our obligation to the truth against other important values. This course examines the complexities around truth and deception in therapy. Specific attention is given to ethical standards of fidelity and veracity, reasons why clients and therapists lie to each other, and case examples calling for ethical decision-making. The course acknowledges that there are some situations where our ethical obligation to truth is more absolute, such as in billing and other representations to third parties.
- Introduction [0:08]
- Background [0:23]
a. Types of deception
b. Research on deception
c. Toward empathy - Clients deceiving therapists [0:25]
a. What clients deceive about
b. How therapists respond - Ethical standards [0:14]
a. General ethical principles
b. Specific ethical standards - Therapists deceiving clients [0:19]
a. What therapists lie about
b. Impacts on treatment - Clients deceiving others [0:35]
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Describe at least three reasons clients may use deception with their therapists and counselors
- Describe at least three different types of deception
- List at least one specific ethical standard or principle relevant to the use of deception in the participant’s specific profession
- Identify at least two circumstances where counselor or therapist use of deception may be ethically justifiable
Published May 23, 2025
about the presenter
Ben Caldwell, PsyD
Benjamin E. Caldwell, PsyD is a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Adjunct Faculty for California State University Northridge. He is the author of Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs, and lead author of AAMFT’s Best Practices in the Online Practice of Couple and Family Therapy. He has served on the AAMFT Ethics Committee, and has published and presented around the country on issues related to law, ethics, technology, supervision, and professional development.
Administrative Information
To complete the course, watch all required video components, complete a quiz on course content with a score of at least 80%, and complete a satisfaction survey. When all course components have been successfully completed, your certificate will issue automatically and can be downloaded from your dashboard.
Our policies on Accommodations can be found on our Accessibility page. All course videos are captioned. Our other CE policies can be found here.
On-demand video format. All video segments include captioning.
Total running time 2 hours, 3 minutes.
Continuing Education Provider Approval
High Pass Education is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for California LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs. High Pass Education maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content. CAMFT CEPA provider #137848. This course meets the qualifications for 2 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, and/or LPCCs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
